Tag Archives: fbi

An interview with grand jury resister Steve Jablonski

If you were contacted by the FBI, what would you do? Do you know who you would call? Would you be able to find a lawyer? Would you quit your job? Would you talk to your partner, your comrades, your parents? More importantly, would you talk to the government? If the FBI informed you that you were being made to stand before a grand jury, at which you could not have a lawyer present and you might face jail time if you did not answer questions—what would you do?

In 2012, several anarchists in the Pacific Northwest had to answer these questions. They were brought before the court to determine if they knew anything or anyone that was connected to a riot that broke out on May Day of that year. Three people kept their mouths shut and did several months in jail. One other person talked and was released, and quickly vanished without telling her former friends what she had done.

What follows is the experience of another person, Steve Jablonski, who took another route. While standing in solidarity with other people in the Pacific Northwest who resisted the grand jury, Steve instead decided to leave the country in order to avoid spending time in jail. Steve, like his comrades, kept his mouth shut in the face of government repression, but also faced other obstacles. He had to contend with the police forces of another country, and continues to face the realities of political repression now that he has returned.

There are many ways to defy the powers that be. Sometimes, you keep your mouth shut and do a few months; other times, you flee the country. We leave it up to you, dear reader, to choose what is right for you.“Wherever you find injustice, the proper form of politeness is attack.” –T-Bone Slim

Can you tell us a little about yourself? How did you arrive in the Pacific Northwest and become an anarchist?Continue reading →

This week, the Joint Terrorism Task Force visited the home of an activist in Maryland regarding the Momentive anti-fracking action on July 8 in North Carolina, and attempted to speak with their family.

“On the afternoon of Thursday August 15th, two members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force visited the homes of anti-fracking activists in the Frederick, MD. This is related to recent actions against fracking that area activists participated in during the EF! rondy. If you are also visited please let your local legal support know. More importantly, if they come to your home please do not speak to them, and of course we will do the same.”
-Some local activists

This week, the FBI has also been poking around Northeastern anarchist communities. They have also approached climate activists in the Northwest. If you act or advocate against fracking, or are tied to communities that do, there is a chance that federal agents may approach you or someone you know in attempt to find out more information about radical communities. Often, agents will also attempt to target peripheral people who they believe they can easily manipulate in order to find information to build cases against others. As a precaution, speak with your household, friends and family about what to do if agents come to your house, and how important it is to not interact with them at all. You have no legal obligation to speak with them, and any interactions you do can only serve to harm you or someone else.

You can also use this guideline as a reference: Never Talk to Police Officers, FBI etc. Train yourself, other activists, and your friends on these guidelines.

• If they come to your house to ask questions, do not let them in. From inside your door, or from outside with your door shut behind you, politely say “I wish to remain silent.” Ask them if you are under arrest or if they have a search warrant. If they say no, go back inside your house and close your door politely. If they come in anyway, say “I do not consent to a search.” Take note of who they are and what they do.

• It doesn’t matter whether you are guilty or innocent. It doesn’t matter how smart you are. Never talk to Police Officers, FBI, Homeland Security, etc. It doesn’t matter if you believe you are telling police officers what they already know. It doesn’t matter if you just chit chat with the police. Any talking to police officers, FBI, etc. will almost certainly harm you or others.

• If you talk to a police officer, you give him or her the opportunity to testify against you based on what you said or what they say you said.

• Don’t talk to police officers, federal agents, or intelligence officers at all about anything. Simply and politely say you wish to remain silent. Ask if you are being detained or are under arrest. If you are not, then walk away. If you are arrested or detained, repeat to everyone who asks you that you wish to remain silent and that you wish to speak to a lawyer. Say nothing else but your name, address, and birth date. Most convictions, whether people are guilty or not, come from people talking, not from investigative work.

North Texas environmental activists frequently feel as though local officialsignore their protests against gas drilling, but it turns out it’s easy enoughto get the federal government’s attention — if the FBI thinks you might be planning eco-terrorism. Continue reading →

An FBI agent and a Dallas police officer spoke last month with philosophy and religion professor Adam Briggle about specific materials in a syllabus for one of his courses on civil disobedience.

Law enforcement officials brought up an article in his curriculum that supports “monkeywrenching,” an act of sabotaging equipment performed by activists to stop projects they deem damaging to the environment.

Briggle believed the FBI agent and officer were only seeking information.

FBI agents and law enforcement from multiple agencies have raided a well-known activist group house in Salt Lake City, Utah, today in connection with an investigation of Animal Liberation Front crimes in Iowa.

I just got off the phone with multiple housemates who were there witnessing the raid, and who were able to read the warrant. Details about all of this are still emerging, but at this point it is clear that the warrant was issued by the Southern District of Iowa, and authorizes the seizure of any books, pamphlets, computers and other materials tied to “animal enterprise terrorism.”

Some background: In Minnesota, a graduate student named Scott DeMuth has been indicted on conspiracy charges under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The charges are related to a 2004 raid by the Animal Liberation Front at the University of Iowa.

Another Minnesota activist, Carrie Feldman, has been jailed for refusing to testify about her political beliefs and political associations before a grand jury. Feldman was a teenager at the time of the ALF crime, and says the grand jury is clearly an attempt to harass and intimidate the activist community.

So how did the FBI end up in Utah? One of the housemates, Peter Young, is repeatedly mentioned by name in the warrant. Young was one of the first people prosecuted for “animal enterprise terrorism” in connection to fur farm raids in the late 90s. (His co-defendant Justin Samuel is also mentioned in the warrant). He served two years in prison, and has been living in Salt Lake City, speaking at colleges, and writing on his website, Voice of the Voiceless. He is among the most vocal, public supporters of the ALF and direct action.

The only connection I can decipher between Young and the Iowa investigation is this: in an emergency motion filed against Scott DeMuth, to keep him in jail, the government calls DeMuth an “anarchist” and “domestic terrorist.” As evidence of this, they say he is an “associate” of Peter Young. As DeMuth’s faculty advisor has publicly explained, this is tied to his research as a graduate student.

There are about nine people living at the activist group house in Salt Lake. At least 15 computers were taken by the FBI, along with boxes of documents, notebooks, files, and address books. The house is well-known in the area as a gathering space for animal rights and other activists. No arrests have been made, and at this point it seems Iowa is being used as a pretext for a continued campaign of harassment and intimidation.

Among the items taken from the FBI’s terrorism raid: a postcard for Iowa 80, “the world’s largest truck stop.”

I’ll continue to update as this story develops. In the meantime, this is a good opportunity to plug the National Lawyers Guild hotline, 1-888-NLG-ECOL. Also, please write Carrie Feldman a letter as she continues to resist the grand jury witch hunt. Carolyn Feldman, 770 Iowa St., Dubuque, IA 52001.